The Brief Adventures of Skye: Puppy-Bound Ward
by Selene Illusinia
Summary: "Hey, can someone explain the puppy?"requested Skye, pointing to the fur ball currently nestled into her lap. Simmons paused with Fitz halfway off the floor, raising an eyebrow at her. "I've already said it's Ward. We don't really understand the rest yet." Skye blinked. Then blinked again. "Wait, this is actually Ward?"


A pile of fur lay in the middle of the table in the lab. It was the first thing Skye noticed when she came to: the small chocolate lab puppy currently napping in the middle of the table like it belonged there. It's little back rose and fell as it snoozed, completely content to ignore the otherwise chaotic world flying about it. Seriously, the lab was in absolute chaos.

The D.W.A.R.V.E.S. were currently swooping around as Fitz madly tried to get them under control, all while Simmons was shouting at him to turn the bloody things off. How Skye _hadn't_ come to before this moment, she wasn't sure. And how the puppy was sleeping through it, she couldn't even begin to guess.

Glancing around, she tried to locate someone, anyone, else from the team. Triplett or Coulson, someone who could bring order to this chaos. Hell, May would be a saving grace at this point. A sharp crashing sound followed by an unhappy puppy yelp caused Skye to whip her head around towards the noise.

Apparently, Fitz had managed to get the D.W.A.R.V.E.S. down. Unfortunately, at least one of them had struck the table where the puppy had been sleeping soundly. A puppy that was now _very _much awake and very unhappy. It was barking at the downed dwarf like the thing was going to get back up, having backed away nearly to the edge of the table.

"Ward, no!" shouted Simmons, snatching up the puppy just before it could fall off the table. Wait, Ward?

"Ward?" repeated Skye, blinking at Simmons from where she sat. Apparently, her voice was enough to distract Simmons from the chaos with the D.W.A.R.V.E.S. and send her running over to Skye, the puppy still in her hands.

"Skye, you're awake," stated Simmons, thrusting the puppy into the startled hackers hands quickly. "Good, hold Ward while I help Fitz."

"Ward?" repeated Skye, staring down at the chocolate puppy in confusion. The puppy looked unhappy, but had settled into her lap all the same. He- presumably a he if Simmons had named him Ward- padded up to lay against her stomach.

"Yes, Ward," confirmed Simmons as she quickly moved to help Fitz up. Apparently, one of the dwarf's had sent him diving. "I told you that algorithm wouldn't work Fitz. You should have listened to me."

"It was sound in theory!" insisted Fitz as Simmons basically pulled him off the lab floor. "It must be a calibration error."

"Fitz-" started Simmons, only to be cut off by Skye's sharp whistle. If she let this continue, they'd be debating it well into next week.

"Hey, can someone explain the puppy?" requested Skye, pointing to the fur ball currently nestled into her lap. One of her hands fell to rub at the small animal's back, softly pressing her finger tips into the animal's spine. He made a happy sound in her lap, nuzzling closer against her stomach.

Simmons paused with Fitz halfway off the floor, raising an eyebrow at her. "I've already said it's Ward. We don't really understand the rest yet."

Skye blinked. Then blinked again. "Wait, this is actually _Ward?_"

"Yes," confirmed both Simmons and Fitz, the engineer finally back on his feet.

"We saw it happen," added Simmons, moving away from Fitz once he was stable. "It was a device, but it exploded before we could reach it." 

"So, this is actually _Ward_ snuggling into my lap?" asked Skye, her eyes falling to the puppy who'd decided to fall back asleep as if nothing had happened.

"Yes," confirmed Simmons mildly, apparently completely unconcerned with the fact that their former teammate and the biggest traitor they knew was currently dozing in her lap. "Could you hold onto him? We've been trying to find something to do with him while we work on changing him back, but everyone claims to be busy."

"He looks pretty happy with you," added Fitz helpfully, nodding once. "Sure didn't do that when I was holding him."

"You aren't Skye," pointed out Simmons knowingly. Looking back at the hacker, the biochemist made a shooing motion. "We already checked you over, you're clear to leave when you want to. If you could take Ward along too, that would be helpful."

For a moment, Skye considered if she actually wanted to take Ward with her or leave him in the lab to contend with the two scientists. Why he wasn't in a pet carrier or...something was beyond her. Her eyes focused on the puppy in her lap for a moment, taking in the fur that matched Ward's hair color and the way his little body shifted with every breath he took. Okay, she could see why he wasn't in a carrier. Locking a puppy in a carrier all the time would be cruel, especially given they didn't know if puppy-Ward remembered anything human-Ward had done.

Sighing, she carefully scooped Ward up into her arms and slid off the lab table. Fitz and Simmons had already started arguing about something again, babbling in half sentences that made absolutely no sense. "Alright, lets get outta here, pup. Let the scientists figure out how to help you."

Ward lifted his head a little, shifting in her arms to look back at her before flailing a bit until he'd turned himself over onto his back. Really? Alright, she could handle that. It was kind of adorable the way he was looking at her anyway. One of her hands rose to scratch at his stomach as they exited the lab, heading for the lounge.

"Alright, first off, let's figure out what to call you," insisted Skye, eying Ward where he lay in her arms. His tongue lolled to the side happily as he enjoyed the attention, a big grin splitting his face. "I should just call you Ward, but it's too harsh of a name for a puppy. If you remember any of this though, you'll kill me if I give you a name like Fluffy." Staring at him for a moment longer, a small smile drew across his lips. "What about Grant? Huh? Should we just call you 'Grant'?" Ward kicked his feet a little at her words, completely bliss-ed out and not paying an ounce of attention. She took it as consent. "Alright, Grant it is."

"So they pawned him off on you, huh?" Triplett's voice drew Skye's attention from where she lay on the couch with Grant. She'd managed to dig up a sock she didn't care about and was currently playing tug-of-war with her former SO, who was more than happy to tug at the sock despite getting nowhere unless she let go.

"I actually kinda like him like this," admitted Skye as she released the sock and watched Grant fall backwards and land on his rump. The sock hung slightly lopsided from his mouth and his big, chocolate eyes stared up at her in surprise. Then he let out a yip around the fabric and bound towards her again. Her fingers immediately latched onto the sock and Grant began tugging again. "He's innocent. Like a kid."

"He betrayed us all, Skye," pointed out Triplett, eying the puppy like he thought Grant could actually _do_ something to them.

"He's a puppy, Trip," pointed out Skye simply, releasing the sock again. This time, Grant was ready and he happily tossed his head about with the sock in his grasp. "What's he really gonna do?"

"True," sighed Trip, shaking his head. A small smile drew across his lips as he watched Grant toss around the sock happily. "Gotta admit though, he is cute." Shifting his eyes to Skye, Triplett dropped a hand to her knee gently. "Hey, you doing okay?"

"Yeah," sighed Skye, watching as Grant stopped playing with the sock to eye them both. "I'm doing alright. I just wish-" A growl from Grant halted Skye's words as she watched him drop the sock and slink towards her. What the...

Slowly, Grant stalked up along her legs, eying Triplett as he did. Seriously? Was a puppy seriously _jealous_ that Triplett was touching her? Another growl from Grant when Triplett shifted his hand a little answered that question.

"Trip, I think you should move your hand," advised Skye. It was hard not to laugh at this. Grant Ward had sworn he loved her, and now he was growling at Trip because the man was touching her leg. It really was funny.

"Yeah," agreed Triplett, removing his hand quickly. Grant quieted immediately, climbing over Skye's legs to curl against her stomach possessively. A chuckle broke free from the male agent as he straightened beside Skye. "Guess some things don't change, huh?"

"Huh?" questioned Skye, staring up at Triplett cluelessly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, he's possessive of you in human form," explained Triplett with a shake of his head. "And the trend seems to have continued in puppy-ward."

"Grant," corrected Skye immediately. Triplett's eyebrow rose in question, prompting her to elaborate. "Ward is too harsh of a name for a puppy. It's Grant."

"Right, Grant," repeated Triplett. In her lap, Grant raised his head, ears twitching a little. "Well, I don't think it's really gonna matter. That pup isn't leaving your side." Smiling a bit, he took a risk and quickly pet Grant's head. The puppy let him, though he lowered his head a little at the touch. "Guess he doesn't like to be pet."

"Not true," argued Skye, raising her hand to scratch behind Grant's ears. Immediately, he lay down in her lap happily, rolling over so she could gently scratch under his chin.

"Then it's just you, Skye," stated Triplett firmly. "Because he nearly bit Fitz when we were runnin' from that explosion." Shaking his head, the other agent waved a little and disappeared into the kitchen before Skye could speak. Looking down at Grant again, Skye tried to wrap her mind around what Triplett had said. Apparently even now, some part of Ward was still reaching out to her. It wasn't the soothing fact it should have been.

"He seems happy," remarked Coulson, drawing Skye's attention to the older agent. One of his hands was wrapped around his coffee mug while the other was shoved into a pocket of his suit. His eyes were entirely locked on Grant though. "At least he's not trying to bite anyone."

"He was probably scared," remarked Skye, waving at Coulson mildly from where she was laying on the couch with Grant curled into her side, asleep. "How did you guys get him back here if he was trying to bite everyone?"

Coulson shrugged a bit, setting his cup gently on the coffee table and kneeling beside the couch. As if on cue, Ward lifted his head a little at Coulson's approach, wagging his tail and whimpering slightly. "Someone threw him at me. For whatever reason, he didn't try to bite me."

"Maybe he respects you," suggested Skye, glancing down at Grant when his tail hit her side. "Or maybe he just didn't like the way Fitz was handling him."

"Maybe," agreed Coulson, reaching out to scratch Grant's head. "He didn't like Simmons handling him either though. And Triplett was just as bad."

"Maybe they smell bad?" tried Skye, watching Ward roll over against her side. "I don't know. Maybe animals just like you., AC." 

"And you?" pointed out Coulson, raising an eyebrow at Skye. "Ward seems to like you just fine."

"Grant," corrected Skye again. "Ward's too harsh a name for a puppy."

"Why not Fluffy then?" suggested Coulson, smirking a bit. "He's a pretty furry little guy."

"Because if Ward remembers that after we change him back, he'll kill me," replied Skye simply, smiling when Grant rolled yet again and stood. He shook his fur once, then hopped off the couch and seemed to sniff around for something. "Crap, do we have a place for him to go?"

"Not really," admitted Coulson. "We set up a little box, but I don't know how easy it'll be to get him to use it. May mentioned finding an isolated place to land the plane. It'll be a little while though."

"Well then we'd better get him to this box you mentioned," stated Skye firmly, standing to quickly pick up Grant. She held him a little away from her body, just in case he had an accident. "What about the cargo bay? At least we can wash that."

"That's not a bad idea," confirmed Coulson, standing as well. "The box is closer though. We put it in the bathroom."

Nodding, Skye quickly turned and hurried to the bathroom. The aforementioned box was resting in the middle of the room, like Coulson had promised. Sadly, Grant's little bladder apparently couldn't hold it in that long. A line of urine struck Skye's leg as she went to set Grant down, causing her to yelp. In her hands, Grant did the same, wiggling in protest. Which sent the stream cutting across her jeans worse. Great.

Groaning, Skye glared at Grant unhappily and promptly marched to the bathroom door. Coulson had made it to the doorway by now, though his amused eyebrow said it all. Skye just shoved Grant into his hands. "Get me new clothes." She then promptly shut the door to the bathroom and grabbed a towel. Okay, in reality she probably shouldn't have spoken to Coulson like that, but she just got peed on dammit.

Wiping up the pee with the first thing she could reach (a towel that looked like one of Fitz's, woops), she quickly wiggled out of her clothes and headed for the shower stall. She never even reached the door before a scratching stilled her. It was joined by whining seconds later as Grant began to complain, loudly, outside the bathroom door. Of course Coulson had left Grant outside the bathroom door. It was retaliation for her demands for clothes.

For a moment, she considered leaving him outside the bathroom door. It seemed cruel though and in the end she caved to his demands. Sliding the door open part way, Grant bolted happily inside and nearly ran to where Skye's clothes lay discarded on the ground. He spun when he reached them, wagging his tail and yipping happily. His eyes bore into Skye's from the ground, his face the picture of pure innocence, even though he was staring at her completely naked form.

"Better get your fill, buddy," advised Skye with a shake of her head, walking passed Grant and into the shower. "Because this is the only time you're going to see me naked, ever."

Grant made a happy noise, wagging his tail and following on Skye's heels. Well, until she turned on the shower. The sound of running water sent Grant jumping backwards like a startled sheep. He stared, wide eyed, at the stream of water, pressing up against the side of Skye's leg as she waited for the water to warm. He stuck his nose into the shower, like he couldn't figure out what to make of the falling drops.

Chuckling, Skye gently knocked him back with her foot and stepped into the stall. "Stay here, you don't want to come in the shower."

She carefully pulled the door shut behind her as Grant gave her literal sad puppy eyes, turning into the spray and beginning to shower. Grant made an unhappy sound from outside the door but didn't otherwise object. He did press his face to the glass at one point, something that Skye only noticed by chance and which sent her into peels of laughter. Finally, the whimpering got to her though and she opened the door to let Ward in. She was almost done anyway.

Grant nearly bound into the space, only to yelp as soon as the water struck him and scurry into the corner of the shower. It made Skye laugh harder. Still chuckling, she picked up the puppy and held him with he back to the water. "I warned you." Grant just wiggled in her arms, climbing up as best he could so he was leaning on her shoulder. His head leaned towards the spray and when she turned her head she could see his tongue lapping at the water. "Oh, right. We need to get you water."

Continuing to balance Grant in her arms, Skye flipped off the water and stepped carefully out of the shower. She grabbed her towel from the cabinet and tried to wrap it around herself while balancing her puppy-bound SO. It worked until Grant pushed it down with his back paws.

Sighing, she grabbed a second towel and wrapped Grant in it before setting him on the ground and quickly drying herself off. Fur was stuck to her wet skin where Grant had been leaning, but she ignored it. Pet hair just didn't come off. Kneeling, she grabbed Grant and quickly rubbed the towel over his fur to gather up as much of the water as she could before heading to the door. Her clothes were waiting outside in a pile along with a note from Coulson stating he'd picked it with his eyes closed.

Laughing, Skye grabbed the clothes and pulled them into the bathroom to change. Apparently he hadn't closed his eyes with her shirt and pants, but the bra and underwear definitely didn't match. No surprise. Still chuckling, she gathered up Grant and exited the bathroom. "Come on Grant, let's get you some water."

"What are we gonna feed him, anyway?" questioned Triplett as he cut up some vegetables on a board.

Skye looked up from where she was laying on the sofa, Grant happily chewing on a bone Triplett had pulled out from somewhere- probably something in the fridge- on the floor next to her. "We can give him table scraps I think. Right?"

"I don't think dogs like vegetables," countered Triplett as he threw the vegetables into a pan on the stove. "What about milk?"

"I think he's past the milk stage," replied Skye simply, reaching down to scratch the happy puppy. "I'll just give him half of my steak or something."

"Or I can just make him half of one," pointed out Triplett with a shrug. "Not like it's that much more to cook."

"Or you can give him the chicken in the fridge," suggested Coulson as he passed through the room, heading for the kitchen and coffee pot. Grant looked up as soon as Coulson walked passed, yipping and abandoning his bone in favor of following the man. Coulson glanced down as he felt Grant brush against his leg, kneeling to pet the puppy with a faint smile.

"Wow sir, didn't think you'd take to Wa-er, Grant like that," admitted Triplett, pausing in his cooking to watch the two before returning his attention to whatever it was he was making.

"He's a puppy," stated Coulson simply. "And based on how he's acting, he doesn't remember being human. You can't be cruel to a puppy."

"I agree," threw in Skye, leaning her head over the edge of the couch to watch them. "We aren't forgiving him, just ignoring what he did for the moment because treating a puppy bad is wrong."

"Besides, I like dogs," added Coulson as he scooped up Grant. The little puppy squirmed a bit before settling in the older man's arms happily.

"Aw, he likes you, AC," teased Skye as she watched them, grinning. "You've got the touch."

Coulson snorted, pouring himself a cup of coffee with one hand, balancing Grant in his other arm. "If you're calm around animals, they tend to be calm too."

"True," agreed Triplett, smirking a bit. "Though Grant's pretty protective of Skye..."

"Oh shut up," groaned Skye. She'd throw something at the other agent if he weren't cooking them dinner. "Just give it a rest already."

"Have you taken him into the cargo bay to pee recently?" cut in Coulson, drawing the bickering agent's attention. "We don't want another incident like earlier."

"He hasn't been acting like he needs to go," replied Skye, looking at Ward upside down. He looked so happy resting in Coulson's arm, it was ridiculous. Puppy-Ward was definitely adorable.

"You should still take him every hour or so," countered Coulson with a shake of his head. "I wish we had treats or something to give him when he did well."

"What about bacon?" suggested Skye. "Or peanut butter. We have those."

"Bacon could work," confirmed Triplett with a nod. "We used bacon with my puppy when I was a kid."

"Bacon it is," agreed Skye with a chuckle. "Ward would probably object if he could understand. He's such a health nut."

In Coulson's arm, Grant made an unhappy noise and began to squirm. Coulson cursed. "It looks like we get to find out. Trip, can you bring the peanut butter into the cargo bay?"

"Sure thing, sir," agreed Triplett with a laugh as Coulson abandoned his coffee in his rush to get Grant to the cargo bay in time. "Skye, keep an eye on things up here?"

"Got it," assured Skye, rolling off the couch and coming into the kitchen. "If Ward ruins AC's suit, let me know."

"I'll take photos," confirmed Triplett, grabbing the peanut butter and heading towards the bay himself. Skye just shook her head and turned her attention to dinner.

Grant bolted around left and right beneath the table as everyone ate. Skye had dumped some of the remaining chicken into a bowl for him before they sat down to eat, but he'd apparently already burned through his food. Now, he was busy trying to get someone to play with him.

"He's very active," remarked Simmons as Grant bolted behind her chair during one of his passes around the dinner table. "He seems to have adjusted to this new form quite nicely."

"Yeah," confirmed Skye, giving Simmons a pointed look. "You are trying to fix it still though, right?"

Fitz nodded rapidly, his mouth full as he tried to explain. "We've disassembled the device and have a pretty good idea of what happened."

"The machine literally scrambled his molecules," picked up Simmons, giving Fitz a dirty look that told him to not speak with his mouth full, please. "We're working on a way to reverse it now, though he may change back on his own in a few days regardless. His molecules were rearranged but his DNA appears to be the same. Why his memory seems to be gone, we can't explain. Trauma maybe?"

"Or he's faking," offered May, glaring at Grant as he ran into something. It might have been her leg, but it was impossible to say. "Why does he have so much energy?"

"Well, physiologically speaking, he's a puppy," explained Simmons with a shrug. "His body is probably processing his energy in different ways. Remember, Ward was never a particularly still person."

"Right, he was always in the gym or doing something active," agreed Fitz. "Plus, his body may be producing additional testosterone in this form because he does appear to be such a young age."

"Then maybe we should neuter him," muttered May, glaring at her food as she stabbed another bite.

Every man at the table shuddered simultaneously. Even Skye winced at the thought. Yeah, Ward had done some horrible things as a human, but neutering him when they were pretty sure he was going to turn back into a human? That was just cruel.

Across the table, Simmons looked almost contemplative as she stared down at something Grant was apparently doing on her side of the table. "Pet over-breeding is a current issue and neutering is the solution."

"NO!" The simultaneous shout from both Skye and Fitz caused Grant to let out a loud yelp and bolt immediately to Skye's chair. For whatever reason, he'd grown remarkably attached to her in a very short period of time. She didn't hesitate to scoop him up even though she wasn't done eating, securing him on her lap.

"He's still a human, Jemma," argued Skye, shaking her head as she held Grant close. "Even of he's stuck as a puppy for now, neutering him is just overboard. I don't care what he's done, that's crossing a line."

"Ya don't just remove a man's...parts," agreed Fitz with a nod. "It's abnormally cruel!"

"Agreed," added Triplett, shaking his head. "That's too cold, even for a guy like Ward."

May glanced at Coulson, raising her eyebrow at their boss. "He did try to sleep with Skye."

Coulson made a face at that and Skye would have laughed if they weren't talking about castrating Ward against his damn will. "Fitz is right. That isn't even a matter you joke about as a man and it's certainly not something we should do to Ward when he can't understand what's happening."

"Still a perfect opportunity," muttered May, shaking her head a bit as she eyed Grant across the table.

Skye shuddered and looked down at Grant. The puppy stared back up at her with wide-eyed confusion, never understanding that his manhood was literally on the chopping block. "Well Grant, it looks like you're sleeping with me tonight. And possibly permanently."

"Now that's a bit unreasonable Skye," admonished Simmons, shaking her head. "We weren't being serious. Not only could neutering him cause potential problems when we do shift him back, but it would be beyond cruel."

"I don't really care," stated Skye, shaking her head as she glared at Simmons. "Grant's staying with me until you fix this."

"He's still a bad person, Skye," stated May, narrowing her eyes at the hacker. "Having his body transformed doesn't change who he is."

"I know," assured Skye with a sigh. "But he's a puppy right now and dammit, he was treated like shit as a human. I know you don't believe that, but just think for a minute guys. If Garrett was his SO and Garrett turned out to be that much of a psychotic asshat, then who's to say he didn't do bad things to Ward?"

"You can't know that he did anything bad to Ward, Skye," pointed out Simmons softly, giving her a sad look. Apparently, the memory of almost loosing Fitz in the ocean was still weighing on Simmon's mind heavily.

"And we can't know that he didn't either," pointed out Skye with a scowl. "Look, he's a puppy, so treat him like a puppy and not a murdering traitor." Standing, Skye pushed out her chair and grabbed what remained of her food in one hand while tucking Ward under her other arm. She wasn't exactly hungry but the way Ward was acting suggested he might still be. It felt weird to just turn and walk away, but she honestly didn't know what else to say. What response was there really to give? They knew why she was leaving anyway.

"C'mon Grant, bed time." Skye smiled as Grant yawned and padded behind her back towards her room. She'd taken him down to the cargo bay as Coulson had told her to on the way to his office after dinner. The look he'd given her said he was sorry for what May said, but that she also had a point. Except, Skye didn't care. Grant was a puppy. A normal, hyper, excited, innocent puppy. And maybe Ward was playing them, but really, what could he do as a puppy? Bite someone? Hell, if he was going to do that he'd already had half a dozen chances. It just didn't make sense.

Fluffing some blankets and a pillow into a pile on the floor of her bunk, Skye made sure her pod door was locked before scooping up Grant and placing him in the little nest. "This is your bed, Grant. It's time to sleep, alright?"

Grant stared up at her with wide, guile-less eyes, looking almost confused and a little sad. A yawn broke the look though, causing Skye to giggle. "Yep, exactly my thoughts Grant." Kissing his head, Skye crawled into her own bed and flopped down. It would be good to get some sleep; today had been way too chaotic.

Closing her eyes, she tried to relax into sleep. She could hear Grant shifting around but ignored it in favor of trying to sleep. After all, he would probably be trying to settle down for a while. Puppies were notoriously high energy creatures.

She was just on the cusp of sleep when something cold and wet drew her back. It was on her hand at first and she tried to ignore it figuring it was nothing. Then, it moved onto her arm, to the point where her shirt met her skin. Popping open an eye, Skye found Grant staring up at her from the floor beside her bed, giving her the sad puppy look again.

"Grant, go to sleep," ordered Skye with a sigh. "It's night time. Sleep. Power down."

He just stared up at her in sad confusion. Her eyes trailed to his make-shift bed for a moment before she glanced back down at him. He stared back with the wide-eyed look of a young puppy who was afraid of being alone. Groaning, she gave in, scooping Grant up off the floor and laying him on the bed with her. Immediately, he set about wandering over her sheets for a good five minutes before finally coming up to settle beside her arm and curling into a ball. Smiling a bit, Skye slipped one hand up to rub his fur as she began to drift. "Fine, you can sleep with me. Just don't think it's gonna be permanent. It's not."

It didn't matter what she said though, Grant was already fast asleep.

"Has anyone seen Grant?" questioned Skye as she popped her head into the lounge, eyes scanning the area for the little puppy. She'd locked him outside of the bathroom that morning so she could do what she needed to without him whining at her (and there were some things she wasn't doing in front of a puppy-man thank you very much), but when she'd finished dressing and preparing herself for the day, Grant was no where to be found.

Triplett glanced at Skye over the back of the couch, shaking his head as he did. "Not since last night. Did Coulson take him?"

"Maybe," admitted Skye, tossing the thought around. She'd already checked the lab to see if Simmons and Fitz had retrieved him to test a cure, but both scientists had been locked in a heated argument and there was no sign of Grant in the lab. Same had gone with the cargo bay. She'd considered checking the cockpit but figured May would have probably kicked him out. She wasn't exactly a fan of the puppy. "Have you seen AC today?"

"Early when he was getting coffee," confirmed Triplett, jerking his head towards Coulson's office. "He's probably working. Check his office."

Nodding, Skye headed down the hallway towards Coulson's office. She really hoped Grant was there, otherwise she was going to have to enlist Triplett in doing a grid-style search of the Bus. It wasn't like he wasn't somewhere on the plane, they were at 36,000 feet up after all.

Reaching Coulson's office, she knocked lightly at the door and waited for a moment to be admitted. When she heard nothing from inside, she carefully pushed open the office door. Coulson was no where to be found inside. Maybe he'd gone down to the cargo bay with Grant and she'd just missed him? She was about to shut the door again and check the cargo bay with a small yip echoed from somewhere in the room.

Glancing back inside, Skye scanned the ground for some sign of Grant, but couldn't spot the puppy anywhere. A second yip confirmed the puppy was definitely somewhere in the room though. Walking inside, she shut the door to trap the puppy inside and began her search. It took a moment but she finally found Grant under Coulson's desk. And in his mouth was Coulson's collectable baseball. Shit.

"Grant!" exclaimed Skye, startling the puppy. She made a dive for him and the ball, but he was quicker than she'd thought. He grabbed the ball and dodged away from her quickly, yipping slightly as he did. Apparently, he thought they were playing. The problem was, Coulson would kill him if he caught the puppy with his precious baseball. "Get back here Grant!"

Grant just yipped and bolted across the room, dropping the baseball and wagging his tail as he barked a few more times. Without thought, Skye bolted after Grant, only to send him running again to the other side of the room. This went on for five minutes, with her trying to catch the hyper puppy who always seemed to somehow avoid her grasp. How the hell was he this fast? He was like...a sixth her size. Even as a puppy, she couldn't keep up with him.

Finally, she cornered him behind Coulson's desk, kneeling down and holding out her hand. "Grant, drop it. Give me that." The puppy shook his head firmly, growling slightly and refusing to relinquish the ball.

Grabbing for the ball, she managed to catch it in her hand, but Grant refused to release it. He tugged back instead, still thinking they were playing a game. Using her firmest voice, Skye met Grant's eyes. "Grant, drop it. Now."

For a moment, Grant blinked at her before releasing the ball with a whimper and dropping to sit on the ground. Skye quickly pulled the ball away, wiping the slobber from the surface and checking it for damage. She couldn't see anything obvious, but she wouldn't put it past Coulson to somehow know that the puppy had gotten a hold of one of his precious artifacts. Rushing toward where the ball had originally been stored, Skye was still several feet from the display when the door to the office opened again.

Coulson raised one of his eyebrows at Skye, a stack of papers in his hands as he stepped inside. "What are you doing with my collectable baseball?"

"It uh, fell on the ground," replied Skye quickly, offering Coulson her best innocent smile. "I was just putting it back, you know, before Grant got it." Chuckling, she quickly grabbed Ward from the floor and dropped the baseball on its base. "Anyway, I'm going to take Grant to the cargo bay, he's acting like he needs to go. See ya later!"

She was out the door before Coulson could comment, moving as quickly as possible and praying he actually believed the line about Grant needing to go to the bathroom. Behind her, she heard the door to the office click shut, then picked up the pace when she heard Coulson's angry shout.

"SKYE! GRANT!"

"Alright Grant," informed Skye as she rapidly descended the stairs. "We're gonna play a game called 'hide from Coulson' for a few hours." If only there was a safe place to hide.

"So, who's Ward sleeping with tonight?" asked Simmons over dinner, tilting her head curiously.

Skye nearly spit out her food. At her feet, Grant barked in surprise and started bolting around the room. "What?!"

Simmons blinked at her curiously, gesturing to the puppy running around their feet. "I asked who Ward was sleeping with tonight."

"Grant," corrected Skye, clearing her throat. "We've been calling him Grant. Ward isn't a puppy name."

"Neither is Grant," informed Simmons with a sigh. "Regardless, where is he sleeping tonight?"

"Oh! With me!" exclaimed Fitz, nearly bouncing in his chair. "Can he sleep with me?"

"He tried to bite you when you picked him up, Fitz!" argued Simmons, her face horrified.

"He was scared!" countered Fitz with a pout. "He hasn't tried to bite me since!"

"He's not sleeping with me," stated May firmly, glaring at the puppy as he ran by.

Skye just kept herself from snorting. She liked May, but she was not about to ask the woman to care for Grant. Not when she so clearly disliked him. "He can just sleep with me again."

"Did he sleep alright on the pillow?" asked Triplett curiously, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh, not really," admitted Skye, looking down when Ward scratched at her leg. He was distracted a second later by his tail, tipping and running in circles beside her inn an attempt to catch his wagging appendage. "He actually ended up sleeping in bed with me."

Across the table, Coulson made a choking sound. Fitz patted his back in an attempt to help, only to be waved off. "He did what?" 

"Well, he was whining and licking my hand," argued Skye. "Besides, he's a puppy. It doesn't mean anything to him." She definitely wasn't going to mention the part about taking Grant in the shower with her- Coulson might kill him.

Groaning, Coulson rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Maybe I should take him tonight."

"I don't think he'll like that, sir," stated Triplett with a shake of his head. "The boy's pretty attached to Skye."

"A habit we need to get out of his head," scowled Coulson, glaring at Grant when the puppy barked and bolted by his chair.

A moment later, the chocolate colored pup appeared at Skye's feet and gave her hopeful eyes. She slipped a bit of her chicken to him in return. "It's fine, AC. He can sleep with me tonight. It's better than him whining and keeping someone up all night."

"She's got a point," supported Triplett with a nod. "Besides, he's a puppy. What's he seriously going to do?"

"Fine," sighed Coulson, glaring at Grant through the table. "But tomorrow night, I'm taking him."

Skye groaned as she kicked at her blankets. Why was it so hot in her bed? Grant was furry, but he wasn't that big and he sure as hell didn't let off this much heat. Pushing herself up in an attempt to figure out what was happening, Skye promptly fell out of bed and screamed.

There was a guy in her bed. A very big, very naked guy. Wait, she knew those shoulders and arms. And those big brown eyes. Ward was back to being Ward. And apparently that meant he was naked in her room.

"Skye, what the hell!" shouted Ward, grabbing a blanket in an attempt to cover himself more. His eyes darted around rapidly, though he winced when he moved too fast. "What are you doing in my bed and why am I naked?!" 

"First, it's my bed," corrected Skye as she blinked up at him. She could hear the others scrambling around in the Bus. "And second, you were a puppy when you went to sleep."

"Wha-" Anything Ward was about to say was abruptly cut off when the door to Skye's pod flew open and banged on the wall. Ward was pressed against the back wall of the bunk instantly, eyes locked on the door for who or whatever was coming through. Coulson was inside the room in seconds, standing behind Skye with his gun trained on Ward. Triplett followed suit, his own gun also trained on the clearly disoriented agent.

Blinking at the group, Ward looked like he wanted to run but was too confused to do so. Finally, his eyes fell to Skye. "Did you say I was a puppy?"

"Yep, for the last two days," confirmed Skye with a nod, remaining where she was. It gave Coulson a clear shot, not that it looked like Ward was going to try anything. He looked too confused. "The science people you were working for turned you into a dog."

"_That's_ what that thing did?" asked Ward in confusion.

One of Skye's eyebrows rose. "Why'd you sign up to test it if you didn't know what it did?"

"I _didn't_," countered Ward, groaning slightly and gripping his head. "I was trying to destroy it."

"Why?" asked Coulson, drawing Ward's attention up to him. "What reason would you have for destroying that device?"

"So they couldn't use it?" questioned Ward, wincing. "Why does my head hurt?"

"Probably a side effect of the transformation," replied Triplett, lowering his gun a little. "We'll get you checked out by Simmons. Wouldn't want you dying before we throw you back behind bars."

Groaning, Ward flopped back against the back wall. "Can I at least have some clothes? I don't really want to walk through the Bus naked."

Coulson nodded once, glancing at Triplett. "Trip, can you get him some clothing? I'm not a big fan of him walking around naked either."

"Shouldn't Skye get him clothes sir?" asked Triplett, glancing sideways at Skye where she aS still sprawled on the floor. "She's not doing anything."

"Excuse me, but I just woke up next to a naked guy who was a puppy when I went to sleep, I think I deserve the chance to sit on the floor and do nothing," argued Skye, glaring up at Triplett jokingly. "Besides, I'm here to keep AC from killing Ward."

Triplett threw a glance at Coulson but nodded all the same. "Probably a good idea." Holstering his gun, he turned towards the door. "Be back in a few."

"Take your time," assured Skye casually, looking back at Ward. "The view's not that bad."

"Skye," growled Coulson, glaring harder at Ward. "Don't give me a reason to shoot him."

Skye started to open her mouth to argue, then quickly thought better of that and dismissed the idea. Coulson would probably do it. Instead, she looked back at Ward, who looked like he was in pain, embarrassed, and probably just completely confused. "So, do you remember anything, Ward?"

"I remember someone threatening to name me Fluffy," remarked Ward, rubbing his forehead with a wince. "And May talking about...oh god, she wanted to neuter me."

"Still does," added Skye with a wise nod. "She's not happy with you."

"I don't blame her," muttered Ward, shaking his head. His brow furrowed further, though it was accompanied by a wince. "Did I chew on Coulson's shoe? Or was it his baseball?"

"Both," replied Coulson unhappily, his grip tightening just a little on his gun.

"AC, you can't shoot Ward for anything he did as a puppy," admonished Skye, shaking her head as she pushed herself to her feet.

Ward blinked at she moved, his eyes locked on her. "You took me in the shower."

"What!?" shouted Coulson, glaring at Ward hard and cocking his gun. Ward was smart enough to whimper a little.

Skye quickly, stepped between Ward and Coulson, glaring at Coulson over her shoulder. "He was whining at me and I wanted to shower in peace. _He was a puppy_. I didn't know he'd remember it."

Ward gulped a little, looking more than a little afraid. "I don't really remember anything! I swear. I just remember getting hit with water and Skye being in the shower. I'm assuming she was naked!"

"I was," stated Skye simply. Turning to Coulson, she made sure he couldn't shoot Ward still. "See AC? He doesn't remember it."

"Fine," growled Coulson, uncocking the gun. "I'm still not happy about that."

Behind Skye, Ward muttered something that might have been 'worst night ever'. It made Skye laugh. He obviously didn't remember everything.

"What's so funny?" growled Ward, glaring at her halfheartedly as he tried to cover himself better. "This isn't funny, Skye." 

"Yeah, it is," assured Skye, shaking her head as Triplett showed back up with a pair of shorts and a shirt in hand. "Because it was almost so much worse."

"How?" asked Ward wearily, taking the clothing when Triplett offered it to him. "I've spent the last two days as a puppy, my whole body aches, and my head is pounding. Beyond that, I'm also about to be locked up, again, and I'm stuck on a plane with a bunch of people who probably want me dead."

"Yeah," agreed Skye, grinning. "But I almost passed you off onto Coulson earlier tonight. So think of it this way: at least you didn't wakeup cuddling Coulson."


End file.
